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Swings between drought and floods striking from Dallas to Shanghai, while Madrid and Cairo are among cities whose climate has flipped
Climate whiplash is already hitting major cities around the world, bringing deadly swings between extreme wet and dry weather as the climate crisis intensifies, a report has revealed.
Dozens more cities, including Lucknow, Madrid and Riyadh have suffered a climate “flip” in the last 20 years, switching from dry to wet extremes, or vice versa. The report analysed the 100 most populous cities, plus 12 selected ones, and found that 95% of them showed a distinct trend towards wetter or drier weather.
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Highly toxic jet fuel leaking from oil tanker threatens local ecosystems as investigations begin into collision’s cause
Leaking fuel from the collision between a cargo ship and oil tanker in the North Sea would have a “devastating” impact on marine life, experts have said, as investigations began into the cause of the incident.
Fires continued to burn onboard both vessels 24 hours after the Stena Immaculate tanker and cargo ship Solong collided off the coast of Yorkshire on Monday morning. A search for a missing crew member was called off overnight.
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In addition to layoffs and hiring freezes, a ‘God squad’ can effectively veto ESA protections for endangered species
Donald Trump’s administration, backed by House Republicans and Elon Musk’s Doge agency, are carrying out an attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and federal wildlife agencies that, if successful, will almost certainly drive numerous species into extinction, environmental advocates warn.
The three-pronged attack is designed to freeze endangered wildlife protections to more quickly push through oil, gas and development projects, opponents say.
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Hitchin, Hertfordshire:It’s often mistaken for blackthorn at this time of year, and you may be more familiar with its pink and purple varieties
The winter-flowering cherry (Prunus x subhirtella) at the end of our road had been caught in a blizzard for months, flurries of flowers hanging from its bare branches like snowflakes that had forgotten to melt. Now its blossom has mostly fallen and turned to slush, but further along the bank, cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) flowers are unfurling – five snow‑white petals pushing against the protective enclosure of green sepals until the rounded sepals open and arch backwards, where each remains, reflexed, barely touching the two adjacent petals at its base.
This parting of the ways helps distinguish cherry plum from its near neighbour, blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) – a common misidentification in early spring. Blackthorn usually blooms a few weeks later and has sepals that remain flush to the underside of the opened petals.
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Campaigners say introduction of feasibility test in England and Wales over bathing status is ‘snub to communities’
Rivers are unlikely to be granted the protections of bathing water status under the government’s changes to the system, campaigners have said.
River activists have reacted with fury as details of the reforms were revealed on Wednesday.
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Committee warns of serious injustice to disabled motorists and those reliant on public chargers
The rollout of electric vehicle chargers across Britain is “patchy”, behind deadline and ignores the needs of disabled drivers, the parliamentary spending watchdog has found.
A report published by the public accounts committee (PAC) warned that the charging points needed to give drivers confidence for the switch to EVs were still lacking, particularly on Britain’s biggest roads.
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The Guardianas del Conchalito ignored chants of ‘get back to your kitchens’, determined to protect the environment and create a sustainable shellfish operation
Ahead of the small boat, as it bobs on the waters near La Paz in the Mexican state of Baja California, is a long line of old plastic bottles strung together on top of the waves. Underneath them are as many as 100,000 oysters, waiting to be sold to the upmarket hotels down the coast.
Cheli Mendez, who oversees the project, pulls a shell up from below, cuts it open with a knife, and gives me the contents to try: a plump, tasty oyster. Mendez is one of a group known as Guardianas del Conchalito, or guardians of the shells, and theirs is the first oyster-growing business in the region run entirely by women, she says.
The women dug a channel with shovels and pickaxes to allow seawater to reach the mangroves
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An ugly fight has ripped through Galloway in south-west Scotland, with rival campaigns complaining of dirty tricks and murky finances. How could the mere possibility of a new national park stir up so much ill will?
As soon as the green fields of Galloway, in south-west Scotland, were selected as the preferred site for Britain’s first new national park in 15 years, Denise Brownlee sprang into action. The 64-year-old retired civil servant had served two seasons as a park ranger in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, and knew a thing or two about the chaos brought by thoughtless day-trippers and campers. “The detritus!” she says. “I’ve seen a two-man tent used as a human litter tray. You think dog poo on the pavement is bad? Try wandering up any remote little area in a national park. Your faith in humankind gets lost.”
In July, Galloway was chosen as the frontrunner from a shortlist of five areas as part of the Scottish government’s pledge to designate at least one new national park – the country’s third – by 2026. The park’s creation, however, is by no means assured. The other areas in the running had faced varying degrees of opposition (especially Lochaber in the west Highlands), but no one could have predicted the ugly fight that was to tear through one of Scotland’s most picturesque regions, rip apart friendships and turn neighbours against each other.
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Rainfall in Bahía Blanca led to 10 deaths, swept away vehicles, destroyed bridges and left areas underwater
The city of Bahía Blanca in Argentina had a new rainfall record on Friday, after a recent heatwave. More than 400mm (15.7in) of rain was recorded in just eight hours, more than twice the city’s previous record of 175mm set in 1930, and roughly equivalent to a year’s worth of rainfall.
The heatwave primed the atmosphere for heavy rainfall by creating high instability and raising humidity levels. Then on Friday, as a cold front swept across the region, this warm moist air was able to rise, cool and rapidly condense, leading to severe thunderstorms across the region. As the front then continued northwards towards Buenos Aires over the weekend, further severe storms were triggered, containing heavy rain, hail and strong gusts.
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Two Italian cacti smugglers have been fined for illegally trading plants from Chile – and for the cost of restoring the environment. Conservationists hope more cases will follow
Chile’s Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth, a surprisingly cool environment, sucked clean of moisture by the cold ocean to the west. This arid, golden landscape is home to many rare species of cacti, which attract professional and amateur botanists from around the world keen to make discoveries and experience the thrill of naming a new species.
But they are not the only ones prowling the sands: Atacama has become a hotspot for succulent smuggling.
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